Apparatus for the continuous feeding of strandular material



April 7, 1964 G. N. BONNELL ETAL 3,128,025

' APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS FEEDING OF 'STRANDULAR MATERIAL Filed Aug. 31, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS GEORGE N. BONNELL BY ROBERT A. BARR ATTORNEY A ril 7, 1964 G. N. BONNELL ETAL 3,128,026

APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS FEEDING OF STRANDULAR MATERIAL Filed Aug. 31, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS GEORGE N. BONNELL Y ROBERT A. BARR 41% ATTOR NEY United States Patent Ofi ice 3,128,026 Patented Apr. 7, 1964 3,128,026 APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS FEEDING ()F STRANDULAR MATERIAL George N. Bonnell, Fanwood, and Robert A. Barr, Bound Brook, N.J., assignors to Midland-Ross Corporation,

Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of ()hio Filed Aug. 31, 1962, Ser. No. 220,690

8 Claims. (Cl. 226-11) .This invention relates to apparatus for insuring continuation of a strandular material to wherever needed, as in a continuous coating or covering operation, or in a collating procedure or gluing, etc. and, more particularly, to apparatus that will continue to provide strandular material from additional supplies upon exhaustion of the original.

Generally, to insure a continuing supply of strandular material, the end of the initial supply is fastened or connected to the beginning of an additional supply, and this procedure continues until the particular operation is at an end. The fastening is done by tying the ends together, or gluing them, or through splicing, sewing, etc. Such end connections are simple, not too fast, but are only usable where the additional bulk created by an overlap of two ends does not matter. Where speed is a requirement and where the diameter of abutting ends must not be enlarged and where the material out of which the strand is made does not lend itself to any of the aforementioned methods of securing ends, the aforementioned common methods are not applicable.

The apparatus of this invention mechanically and automatically insures a continuation and advantageously will continue to feed a strand from extra supplies so long as the ends are within its frictional reach. The apparatus is immediately warned of the ending of a store of strandular material and sets into motion means for seizing and forwarding the new supply. The beginning end being quickly forwarded to abut the disappearing end portion of the exhausted supply.

The apparatus, and its obvious advantages, will be described in the following specification along with the accompanying drawing, where:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic representation of a paper web laminating apparatus utilizing the strand feeding apparatus;

FIGURE 2 represents, in elevation, the strand feeding apparatus utilized in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 represents the bifurcated strand guiding and driving means for strandular material; and

FIGURE 4 represents the idler pressure wheel support.

The strand feeding apparatus to be herein described is shown, by way of example only, as being part of a paper web laminating process where one web layer is attached to another base layer by means of glue. The glue supply is in the form of a strand having a diameter dependent upon requirements, and which diameter can vary from about /a inch to /2 inch and higher. Any strand, rope, monofil of any shape, so long as it is grippable in the bight of a pair of forwarding wheels, and made of cellulosic, organic or inorganic matter can be handled by the apparatus of this invention.

As shown in the drawing, a base paper web passes over supporting and forwarding rolls 11, 12 and while therebetween a layer of liquid glue is spread over its surface by the melter-spreader unit 15. A second paper web supply 16 is advanced by the pressure feeding roll 17 which is in desirable spaced relation to forwarding roll 12. The base paper web 10 and the second layer are joined or laminated between the two rolls 12, 17. The second paper Web layer may be corrugated, or flat, the glue on the base and the pressure on both webs as they pass through the bight of the rolls 12, 17 readily and quickly effects a union of the two. In a laminating or gluing operation of this kind, the paper web supplies are large, the supply rolls having diameter of up to several feet. The glue comes in string or rope form coiled about an arbor capable of being mounted for rotation or on a spol. The glue supply spools in relation to paper supply rolls are quite small so that a number of them are utilized during the lamination of a pair of paper webs. It is, therefore, a requirement that a continuous and rapid supply of a glue should be provided.

As generally shown, the glue melter-spreader is supplied or fed with a strand or rope of glue at a predetermined rate. The supplier or strand feeder 2t) draws the glue material from spool supplies 50, 51, the one being presently used, the other a standby. Referring now to FIG- URES 2 and 3, the strand feeding apparatus 20 comprises a guiding channel 21 having a bifurcated entry 22, 23. A glue strand 50 is fed through the entry 22, and main section 21 to the melter while glue strand 51 is standing idly by in readiness in the other entry 23. Only two entries are shown, however, it will be obvious that more could be added for further automatic feeding.

The guiding channel 21 is open at the top at 24 and bottom at 25 in its main section, and at 26 in the top and at 27 in the bottom of entry 22; also, at 28 (top) and 29 (bottom) in entry 23. The openings 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 admit driving wheels and idlers into contact with the strand being passed therethrough.

The bottom gears 30, 31, 35 of the feed apparatus are driven. The rear or second bottom gear 31, and its companion 35, are driven at a faster rate than the normal or strand feed drive gear 30. This is so to overcome the slight loss in time because of steps automatically taken to bring in the standby supply of strand glue after the initial strand 50 has been used up. The moment the control senses the end of the initial supply, it sets the second strand into motion and the time interval must be compensated for and this is done by the faster rotation of the rear drive wheels. The normal feed position is as shown in FIG- URE 2. The bottom wheel 30 being impressed by top idler 32 forwards the strand 50 at a predetermined rate to the melter-spreader unit 15. The rear wheel 31 is also continuously driven but has no effect since idler wheel 33 is raised out of contact with the strand 50. Similarly, the companion rear wheel 35 is ineffective because its companion idler 31 is also out of contact With the strand 51. The idler wheels 32, 33 and 34 are all mounted in the same support 38, the rear wheels in the Y or yoke section 39. The support 38 is pivotally held at 40, being attached in suspension to the fixed vertical section 41. The idler wheel support, then, can be pivoted about pin 40 impressing the front idler 32 or the rear idlers 33, 34 on a glue strand. Interspaced between the idler wheels is an end sensing means such as a sensitive micro-switch 43 actuated by an extended feeler arm 44. The microswitch is adapted to close a circuit to a timer (not shown) operating a valve means (not shown) to an air cylinder 45 whose piston rod 46 is attached to the idler wheel support 38 at about its end at pin 47. The air cylinder rod 47 is thus adapted to raise or lower and place under pressure a selected idler unit onto the strand 50 or 51 causing its immediate selective movement.

As an example, cord from a supply reel or spool 50 is fed through the bifurcated entry 22 into the main section or channel outlet 21 being pulled therethrough by the driving wheel 30 and the idler pressure wheel 32. The wheel 32 is maintained in pressure contact with the traveling strand by the air cylinder 45 acting on the idler wheel support 38 pivotally held therein at 40. Meanwhile, the sensing arm 44 of the micro-switch 43 is riding the surface of the strand 50. When strand 50 is exhausted, the arm 44 drops closing the circuit which, after a time delay to allow the strand 50 to pass from under Wheel 32, actuates the air cylinder 45 to depress the support 38 placing the rear idler Wheel 35 into pressure contact with the new supply strand 51 pressing it against the bottom driving gear which between them seize and advance the strand 51 through the entry 23 into the main channel 21 raising the sensing arm which, after a time delay to allow it to catch up with strand 50, breaks the circuit in the switch 43 effecting a return of the air piston 46 to its original or normal position. The return of the air cylinder to its position then raises the support 38 to place the idler 32 into a driving relation with the first driving gear 30, the rear driving Wheels then becoming ineffective when the companion idlers are raised out of contact.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for insuring continuous feeding of strandular material comprising, a source of strandular material, guiding means through which it is forwarded, motive means in frictional surface contact with said material in said guiding means for moving it therethrough, at least one other additional source of said material, sensing means in continuous contact with the moving strandular material, and said sensing means upon loss of contact with the strandular material diverting said strand moving means onto said additional material source.

2. An apparatus for insuring continuous feed of strandular material comprising, a source of strandular material, guiding means through which the strandular material is forwarded, motive means in contact with said material in said guiding means for moving it therethrough, a sensing means in contact with said strandular material in said guiding means, an additional standby source of strandular material, and said sensing means upon loss of contact with said strandular material in said guiding means diverting said motive means into contact with said additional strandular material source.

3. An apparatus for insuring continuous feed of strandular material comprising, a source of strandular material, a guiding means having a bifurcated entry through one side of which the strandular material passes, motive means in contact with said material for moving it through said guide means, a sensing means in contact with said strandular material in said guiding means, an additional standby source of said material in the other of 4, said bifurcated entries, and said sensing means upon loss of contact with the moving strandular material diverting said motive means into moving contact with said standby source in said other side of said bifurcated entry.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 in which the motive means comprise a driven bottom wheel in contact with the strand and a top pressure idler wheel, the strand passing therebetween.

5. The apparatus-of claim 3 in which the motive means comprise spaced driven gears for driving the strand and corresponding spaced pressure idler gears, the spaced idler gears being in a pivotable support and having one or the other gear in contact with the strand in conjunction with its companion driven gear.

6. An apparatus for insuring continuous feed of strandular material comprising, a source of strandular material, a guiding 'means having a bifurcated entry through which the material passes, motive means in contact with the strandular material for moving it through said guiding means, said motive means being spaced driven wheels and spaced idler pressure wheels through whose bight the strandular material is advanced, the spaced idler wheels being in a pivoted support and only either the forward or the rearward is in pressure contact with the running strand, means for pivoting said idler wheel support, sensing means in contact with the strandular material, a standby strandular material source in one of said bifurcated entries, and said sensing means upon loss of contact with the moving strand actuating the means for pivoting the idler wheel support placing an idler wheel into pressure contact with the standby strandular material to thus effect a continuation thereof.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said sensing means upon renewed contact with the strand effect a return of the idler wheel support to its original position.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein one of said strandular material moving wheels rotates at a higher rate than the other driven wheel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,474,319 Crosby Nov. 13, 1923 2,369,830 Johnson et-al Feb. 20, 1945 2,534,459 Lawson Dec. 19, 1950 2,998,204 Walsh Aug. 29, 1961 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR INSURING CONTINUOUS FEEDING OF STRANDULAR MATERIAL COMPRISING, A SOURCE OF STRANDULAR MATERIAL, GUIDING MEANS THROUGH WHICH IT IS FORWARDED, MOTIVE MEANS IN FRICTIONAL SURFACE CONTACT WITH SAID MATERIAL IN SAID GUIDING MEANS FOR MOVING IT THERETHROUGH, AT LEAST ONE OTHER ADDITIONAL SOURCE OF SAID MATERIAL, SENSING MEANS IN CONTINUOUS CONTACT WITH THE MOVING STRANDULAR MATERIAL, AND SAID SENSING MEANS UPON LOSS OF CONTACT WITH THE STRANDULAR MATERIAL DIVERTING SAID STRAND MOVING MEANS ONTO SAID ADDITIONAL MATERIAL SOURCE. 